How Much Would Super Bowl XLVIII Tickets Cost For A Jets-Giants Matchup?

Since 2000, the Jets and Giants have both made it to the same post-season twice, in 2002 and 2007. In both of those years, neither team made it past the divisional round. Perhaps the closest the NFL has ever come to an all-New York Super Bowl was in 1991, when the Giants won the Super Bowl and the Jets lost in the Wild Card round. That year, the 25th Super Bowl was held in Tampa, Florida where gametime temperatures were a comfortable 62 degrees. This year, game time temperature will be in the 20s and it has also felt like the arctic winter for New York sports. With the exception of the recently-hot Rangers, it has been a historically dismal year for New York sports. Given that sad state of affairs, we decided to do some speculative math on what Super Bowl tickets would have cost in an alternate universe where the Jets and Giants both made the 2014 Super Bowl.

Home-Town Rivals: Over the last five years, we only have one data point for a Jets-Giants regular season premium, in 2011, when the two teams played on the day before Christmas. At an average price of $384, that was the most expensive Jets home-game all season, with a 28% premium to the average Jets ticket. A 28% premium to the current average price would add $1,000.

Local Teams-Neutral Game: Before we head the hypothetical bank, however, let’s consider the premium for ‘neutral site’ home-games where one of the participants is within 100 miles of their home stadium. Over the last ten years, there have been three BCS title games where that has been the case: 2003 when LSU beat Oklahoma at the Superdome, 2007 when LSU beat Ohio State at the Superdome and 2011 when LSU lost to Alabama at the Superdome. In 2011, the average price for BCS National Championship tickets was $2,128, which is a 25% premium to the average price of the title game over the last three years. In the case of the 2011 title game, Alabama fans also didn’t have very far to go, which means that it’s the closest we’ve ever come to a neutral site game where both teams are local. Add $1,000.

Pent-Up Demand: In 2010, Auburn played Oregon in the BCS title game and the final average price settled at over $5,000. Many ticket sellers call it the perfect storm of demand, one that was driven by Oregon’s proximity to Arizona, where the game was played, as well as pent-up demand for both teams. Going into the game, Oregon had never won a BCS title game, and for Auburn it had been 50 years. Over the course of those 50 years, their in-state rival Alabama had won 10 national titles. While Giants fans have been fairly well sated over the last generation, the same cannot be said for Jets fans. For Jets fans, it’s been 45 years since the last time they had to worry about buying Super Bowl tickets. For Super Bowl III, the cheapest face price ticket was $12, compared to $500 this year. Fans could scour the MetLife Stadium seating chart for the next week and not find a ticket anywhere close to $12, or $500 for that matter. At the same level of inflation, 45 years from now, the average face price for Super Bowl tickets would be $20,000. That means for Jets and Giants fans, the time is now, and the 2014 MetLife Super Bowl is a must-see event, at whatever the cost. For Jets fans, there’s also a middle-aged generation of supporters certain that they would not make it to the next Jets Super Bowl, and smart enough to know that you can’t take it with you. Add $500.

For this year’s game, the current average price is $3,934, which has been inching down a bit over the last two days. The cheapest ticket for the game is $1,985. After adding all of the above together, we’ll assume that the average price remains about double the price of the cheapest ticket, leaving us with the final numbers below: Average Price: $6,434; Get-in Price $3,217